THE SPINDLE TREE. 399 
which has originated its common name. Its smooth 
branches and its leaves are remarkable for their 
greenness, the leaves being of a golden hue. They 
are borne on short stems and, like the twigs on the 
boughs, usually grow in opposite pairs. In shape 
they are somewhat lance-shaped, their tips being 
drawn out to a point. The venation consists 
of a, prominent mid-vein, with alternately branch- 
ing, very wavy, and occasionally forked veinlets, 
proceeding in an irregularly diagonal course to 
near the leaf-margin, which is slightly toothed 
or serrated. 
The greenish white flowers of the Spindle- 
Tree are small, four-petalled, and borne upon 
cymes. The scarlet seed, which grows in great 
abundance, is contained in four-celled cases, and 
adds great beauty to the plant. But the leaves 
and stems are acid to the taste, and poisonous. 
A peculiarity of the roots of the Spindle-Tree 
is, that they form a dense network of fibrous 
rootlets, which, however, usually keep in a com- 
pact mass, and do not spread very far from the 
plant. 
Like many others amongst the most beautiful 
